Archive for the ‘Fourth Amendment’ Category

Supreme Court Holds that “Dog Sniffing” in Area Around the Home Constitutes a Fourth Amendment “Search”

Florida v. JardinesBy Mary Grinman – Edited by Geng Chen

In a 5–4 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed the Supreme Court of Florida, which had held that the use of a trained narcotics dog to inspect the area immediately surrounding Joelis Jardines’s home, including his porch, constituted a Fourth Amendment “search.”

United States v. Cotterman
By Casey Holzapfel ­– Edited by Jessica Vosgerchian

In an en banc decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a decision of the District Court of Arizona suppressing evidence found in a laptop seized by border agents. The Ninth Circuit held that comprehensive searches of electronic devices must meet a standard of reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.

The Supreme Court reversed and remanded the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which had held that a group of attorneys, journalists and human rights organizations had standing to challenge the FISA Amendments Act on the basis of an “objectively reasonable likelihood” that the plaintiffs’ communications would be intercepted under the law.